Abstract
The dynamic behavior of a nematic liquid crystal with added carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in an electric field was analyzed. A theoretical model based on elastic continuum theory was developed and the relaxation times of nematic liquid crystals with CNTs were evaluated. Experiments made with single-walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in nematic 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) indicated a significant difference of the relaxation time when compared to pure liquid crystal. We also noticed that the relaxation time when the field is switched off depends on how long the field was applied. It is shorter when the field is switched off immediately after application and longer when the field was applied for at least one hour.
Highlights
The increased interest for nanomaterials in different domains such as chemistry, medicine or engineering, makes their characterization quite necessary
The experiments were performed on a 0.1% volumetric fraction of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal (LC)
When a liquid crystal with positive dielectric anisotropy is exposed to an external electric field higher than the critical Fréedericksz transition threshold, its molecules have a tendency to orient their director parallel to the applied field, deviating by an angle θ from their initial direction (Figure 1)
Summary
The increased interest for nanomaterials in different domains such as chemistry, medicine or engineering, makes their characterization quite necessary This might be the reason why there are so many research papers presenting new materials and new experiments regarding their behavior in different external electric, magnetic or laser fields [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Under the action of an external magnetic or electric field above a critical threshold, nematic molecules collectively change their orientation This is called the Fréedericksz transition [15,16] and the molecular movement is characterized by the relaxation time. The experiments were performed on a 0.1% volumetric fraction of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal (LC)
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